Once a member of the Old Forge freshman team, he had lost interest in the sport and chose to sit out during his sophomore and junior seasons rather than play.

His classmates, though, refused to allow him to miss out on the ride of a lifetime.

Encouraged to get back out there, Benson took over as the starting center on a veteran offensive line and couldn't be happier now as the Blue Devils (14-1) get ready to play Pittsburgh North Catholic (15-0) in the PIAA Class A final at 1 today at Hersheypark Stadium.

"I didn't really like freshman football," Benson said. "Everybody kept telling me that things were completely different on varsity. There would be a lot more people at the games and more media, it would be more exciting.

Old Forge, it seemed, had all the necessary parts to be a powerful offensive line.

Ryan Paulish, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior, was back to full strength after under going surgery for an injured knee that sidelined him at the end of the 2012 season.

Joey Bruno at 6-4, 250, gave the Blue Devils a solid bookend tackle to Paulish. Inside at the guard positions, Paul Papi entered his third year as a starter, and Corey Souryavong had already proven himself as a physical player with good footwork a year earlier.

But this class knew then, that there would be a vacancy at center where honorable mention all-star Tyler Clark had graduated.

So the seniors took to pushing Benson to join the team.

And after seeing the excitement that the Blue Devils' 11-1 season brought to the school and community, he started lifting and working out with the team last December.

"He was with us all offseason working and working hard," Paulish said. "We just took him under our wing. We showed him the ropes and what it's like to be a lineman.

"He really was committed and he developed into the dominant player he is now."

Scrappy and strong, Benson, who had already spent a lot of time in the weight room, had all the qualities of a lineman at Old Forge.

He also had a unique consistency when it came to snapping the ball to quarterback Jake Manetti in the shotgun formation.

More importantly, he was an honor roll student committed to his school work, which translated into him learning the blocking schemes and recognizing defenses.

"Troy hadn't played since he was a freshman and now he was in the most important position on the line having to know the fronts and alerting the line when he sees blitzes," Manetti said. "He is a really smart kid and that helps a lot.

"When he came, I didn't know what to expect. I knew he was a strong kid. He just put himself in there and he has solidified this line."

Thanks to the dominance of the line, Old Forge enters the state final averaging 354.7 total yards and have paved the way for Brandon Yescavage to run for more than 2,500 yards and Manetti to pass for more than 1,000 yards.

And Benson is one of the key reasons the Blue Devils are on the brink of history.

"This has been so exciting," Benson said. "This is one big family. I never expected anything like this run.

"It's been amazing."

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